Podium for Ferrari in Blancpain Vegas Opener

There is a lot on the line as two races are set to determine several Blancpain GT World Challenge America titles in Las Vegas this Saturday.  Miguel Molina took second on the final lap Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, boosting Ferrari’s chances in both the manufacturer and team points entering tonight’s final race of the 2019 World Challenge America season. Ferraris scored the fast race laps in both classes on the extremely tight nine-turn, 2.1-mile circuit that uses the apron of the speedway oval and an infield road course. The season concludes tonight with a 90-minute race under the lights, beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET.

R. FERRI MOTORSPORT. After battling for second throughout his stint, Molina saw his rival go up in smoke on the white flag lap, benefiting the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 started by Pro class champion-elect Toni Vilander. The second-place finish enabled Ferrari to lead by 10 points in the manufacturer standings, and R. Ferri Motorsport to lead by seven in the team points with just 90 minutes left in the season. “For sure, we’d like to win, but it is not always possible and P-2 is good points,” Molina said. “We had a better pace than the Porsche, but it is really difficult to overtake at this track. Also, we have more weight in the car for this race.” Molina also had the fastest lap of the race, 1:32.873-seconds. Vilander passed both of the championship-contending Bentleys at the start of the race to run second, before settling into third for the remainder of his stint. Molina will start tonight’s finale on the outside of the front row, qualifying with a lap of 1:32.354-seconds.

SQUADRA CORSE. Martin Fuentes and Renger van der Zande finished fifth in Pro-Am in the No. 7 Squadra Corse Ferrari 488 GT3. The team had the best pit stop of the race, eclipsing the minimum pit window by just four-tenths of a second. Van der Zande was running fourth when he spun following contact. The incident is set to be reviewed by race officials following the event after the Belgian racer lost considerable ground due to the contact.  Van der Zande qualified fifth for tonight’s race.

SCUDERIA CORSA. Alessandro Balzan recorded the fastest Pro-Am lap of the race, 1:33.212-seconds, joining Bret Curtis in a seventh-place finish in the season debut of the No. 64 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3. Curtis had a great start, passing two cars to take fifth, but eventually gave up both positions. Balzan, a Las Vegas resident, will start third in tonight’s finale, with a qualifying lap of 1:32.925-seconds.

LIVE STREAMING. Tonight’s 90-minute season finale will be streamed live on gt-world-challenge-america.com.